Castle in Seattle
by DarkRedWillow
Summary: NYPD detective Kate Beckett and famous novelist Rickard Castle head to the West Coast after they are specifically requested on a case. When things go awry, will it be enough for the both of them to finally open their eyes? pre Always CASKETT, and a slight crossover with Grey's Anatomy.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I know I have quite a few stories going on right now, I've had this sitting on my laptop for a while now, and since it is almost already finished, it'll give me time to finish everything else while I release this one…

It is a crossover between Castle and Grey's Anatomy but since it is mostly Castle related, I am not putting it in the crossover section, I hope you guys are okay with that. It is set somewhere in Castle season 4, so spoilery up until Killshot, and at the beginning of GA's season 7.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anyone or anything even remotely related to Castle, Grey's Anatomy or their creators, Andrew W. Marlowe and Shonda Rhimes. I am just having fun with them.

* * *

"I don't see anything," Seattle police officer Brian Smith commented after a several seconds of silence. He shot a nervous look around the room and at the numerous doors on the left side, having no idea if they should go in or not. "What do you think?"

NYPD Detective Kate Beckett stared at the tall, blonde police officer before nodding as she tightened her hold on her gun. "Let's keep on this side of the door until we're sure we're not walking into a trap." She had a bad feeling about this, but she wasn't about to admit it. The police officers present in the hallway were nervous enough as it was, and Castle would try to make her leave the premises. She couldn't leave, not yet.

They had been in Seattle for three days now, and the case they had been working on was about to be wrapped up, as soon as they'd captured their suspect.

The victim, Manuela Donovan, 19 years-old, had been found drowned in her own pool a few days prior and it wouldn't have brought forward much attention to the press and media if she hadn't been Terrence Donovan's daughter, the governor of the Washington state.

Beckett had been surprised when Captain Victoria Gates called her in her office five days ago to inform her that she had been specifically requested to work on a case on the West Coast.

The Seattle's Police Force weren't getting anywhere after a week so Donovan, getting restless over his daughter's unsolved murder, had send Manuela's complete file to the 12th Precinct and requested New York's best, detective Katherine Beckett on the case.

Beckett's reputation was proven less than twenty-four hours later when she had called governor Donovan to confirm his daughter's murder, and that she had a potential lead. Relieved to have made the right decision, the governor immediately flew her and Castle over to Seattle to solve the case.

* * *

Neither Beckett nor Castle had a break from the moment they had set a foot on the West Coast, running from interrogating suspects to spend several hours at the victim's house before going back to their hotel to run theories along with Esposito and Ryan via webcam. They had been teamed up with detective Brian Smith and several other officers and, while they were good at their job, Castle had to agree with Donovan. They were no Beckett.

They had finally managed to trace back their prime suspect the night before but when they went to his place to arrest him, he had vanished. Several hours later they got a call from the Seattle Police Department advising them of an officer having spotted the suspect and, three hours later brought them to Stewart Jensen. The 23 yr-old man was one of Manuela's classmates in Seattle U and his alibi came crashing down the day before, confirming his presence at the crime scene at the time of Manuela's death and, as it turned out, two other similar crime scenes.

Unfortunately for him and lucky for them, Jensen managed to run away from Beckett and the Seattle cops but he only made a couple of blocks before rushing into a building in construction. He was still nowhere to be seen but with about fifteen cops inside and out the place, it was only a matter of time before they put their hands on him.

"Where do you think he went? We're blocking the only way out, unless you count the stairs, but they're a dead end. Maybe he plans to jump through those windows..." Castle pondered absently as he looked around as well for any likely possible scenarios. They were at one end of the hallway on the third floor of the building and it was hell to search for anyone in this place because of all the construction material and plastic drapes everywhere.

"Or maybe he's-"

"Shhh." Beckett put her hand over his mouth to shut him up and Castle fought with all his might to keep himself from pressing his lips on her soft hand. Things had gotten better between the partners lately but, if he knew Kate was getting there, she still needed some time before finally being able to commit into a relationship with him. "whht?"

Kate used her gun to point somewhere to the left about thirty feet away. She signalled for Smith and two other officers to back her up while she slowly made her way to the elevator shaft, having noticed the plastic drape covering it move. She got the feeling that if she had seen him it also meant he could see them coming, but it wasn't as if they had a choice. They had to catch him.

Kate couldn't help but think that it had been a very good thing for her to decide to wear flats that day, since heels would have been a dead giveaway every time she would have made a step in any direction.

The detective was quiet, everybody was or at least until someone slipped over a piece of plastic and fell down. The distraction was all Jensen needed and he jumped out of his hiding place the moment everyone turned around, but Kate saw him run away from the corner of her eye. "Stop! Police!"

She took after him knowing Castle was right behind her and, judging by the loud rumble behind her, at least four or five other cops as well. "Jensen! Stop or I'll shoot!"

The man glanced over his shoulder but didn't stop. Kate was catching up to him but if she wasn't fast enough, chances were he'd be able to reach the stairs before she did and used them to disappear onto the lower floor. "Jensen, last warning! Stop running now!"

Kate didn't know what made him stop. Maybe it was the small piece of 2x4 that lay across the floor that made him stumble.

Maybe it was that she had finally raced up to him and managed to grab his arm to hold him back.

Maybe it was that he tripped over his own feet and crashed over the temporary rail protecting the construction crew from falling down the massive glass floor in the center of the new room they had just entered, floor that had been a gaping hole just a few hours before.

For a second Kate was startled when she heard Castle scream her name, but it was already too late when she snapped back to reality. Her wrist was caught in Jensen's powerful hand as he crashed right through the glass, dragging her with him.


	2. Chapter 2

"You got paged too?" Meredith Grey frowned as her best friend and colleague Cristina Yang came to stand next to her on the hospital's tarmac. The tall, Asian surgeon resident nodded as she turned her friend around and pushed her straw blonde hair out of the way to tie the trauma gown in her back.

"We all got paged," General surgeon Miranda Bailey announced as she, Alex Karev and Lexi Grey joined him, their plastic gowns floating in the wind. The short, African American attending efficiently designated spots to everyone and they all obeyed without a second thought, helping each other fasten the plastic gowns and snapping surgical gloves on.

Lexi Grey, Meredith's younger half-sister, quickly pulled her long, dark chocolate locks into a pony tail before accepting a pair of gloves from Alex. The slightly shorter man rolled back and forth on his heels as he waited impatiently for the patients to arrive, only stopping when Bailey lifted an eye to stare him down. The blaring of the ambulances' sirens were getting closer informing them of their imminent arrival. "Anyone has any idea what we're expecting?"

"Dispatch said two people had crashed through a glass ceiling in a building in construction on the other side of town. Both are critical, a male and a female," Orthopaedic surgeon Callie Torres repeated what she had been told by minutes earlier, bracing herself for the likely broken bodies that would arrive soon enough. Taking example on Lexi, the tall, curvy Latina doctor pulled an elastic band from her pocket and pulled her wavy, black hair away from her face so the strong winds would stop pushing them into her eyes.

"A glass ceiling? Nasty," Cristina muttered gleefully as she imagined what kind of surgeries her upcoming patient would be requiring. "What kind of idiot would go and play around a construction site anyway?"

All frowned when multiple sirens could be heard, not only the ones coming from ambulances but from police cars as well. "What the hell?" Karev shot Meredith a curious look just as three police cars raced through the hospital parking, one ambulance making its way in a few seconds later, screeching to a halt before them.

"The idiot who decided to use a half built building for a game of hide-and-seek is the prime suspect in Manuela Donovan's murder." Bailey glared at Cristina, who took the hint and stepped back.

"The Governor's daughter? Sorry, I didn't know. Who's the other patient?"

The doors to the vehicle opened and two paramedics came out, interrupting Cristina, and promptly read out the patient's case to Karev and Torres. "Patient is a Caucasian male, early twenties, multiple fractures to the legs, ribs and possibly the spine, and deep lacerations when he fell through a glass ceiling. BPs are dropping and he flatlined twice on our way here. His throat is closed up so we couldn't intubate."

"Okay Karev, Little Grey, you're with me. He's bleeding out so we need to rush him to an OR stat," Torres ordered, her voice strong and steady until she noticed the cuffs on the patient's wrists. Her face darkened but she grabbed her side of the gurney while Karev took the other. No one said anything as two cops came to stand next to them to keep an eye on the criminal even though he was cuffed and unconscious. "Come on Grey, let's go!" Lexi swiftly but cautiously jumped on the gurney and resumed CPR while Jensen was rushed inside, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

Bailey sighed as the other ambulance's tires squealed as it entered the tarmac and the remaining cops gathered closer. "The other patient is the cop who was trying to stop him."

Meredith and Cristina exchanged a somber look just as the doors to the second ambulance opened in a rush and a sharply dressed yet distressed man jumped down to give the paramedics more space to work. "What do we have, John?"

The paramedic glanced from Bailey to Castle and the cops and swallowed nervously. "Detective Katherine Beckett, 31, possible multiple fractures to the back and pelvis, and head trauma. The other patient took most of the fall but she still has multiple lacerations on her legs and hip. She was conscious on and off on our way here, her oxygen level is dropping quickly and she's tachycardic."

"Ok Grey, go page Shepherd and meet us in room 3." Bailey barked and turned sharply to Castle, who was lingering too close for her comfort. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to back up if you want us to help her."

"Maybe you'd be helping her better if you were actually moving her into room 3 instead of just barking orders!" Castle snapped at her as he fought his way in and followed the now fast moving gurney.

Cristina listened to the bickering as she applied pressure on a particularly deep cut on Kate's right hip when she snapped her head up and stared at Castle in shock. "You're _him_."

Castle barely acknowledged her before returning an angry glare at Bailey, who was now trying to push him out of the room. "Sir, I know it's hard but you can't be in there, you need to let us help her."

"Then will you let me talk?!" he shouted angrily, although he was much more terrified than angry at the moment. She had to be alright, this couldn't be happening all over again, or he wouldn't survive it. "She was shot in the chest six months ago and she's still recovering. Just, talk to her if she wakes up so she won't freak out."

Bailey nodded quickly and indicated for a nurse to take him in the attendings' lounge. The woman had recognized the man as well and there was no need to make him wait in the public waiting room. Things would get crazy enough when the accident made the six o' clock news. She offered Castle a small smile as she stepped back into the room. "We'll take care of her, sir, you have my word."

Without waiting to see if he was leaving or not Bailey entered the trauma room and let a nurse shut it behind her. "What do we got, Yang?"

"It's _him_, and it's _her_."

"What?"

"Richard Castle! The novelist? He wrote the Derrick Storm series, and the new Nikki Heat books."

"Huh. I knew his face was familiar," Bailey agreed distractedly, not letting know she had almost squealed when she saw him jump down the ambulance and instead let her hands move over the detective's bloody form. She had started cutting through the clothes when she and Cristina's eyes met as they realized something else. "Does that mean that...?"

Bailey nodded, impressed if not a little intimidated as she recognized the injured woman on the gurney for the first time. "I believe so. She is the infamous detective behind Nikki Heat."

"Wow."

"Yang."

"Yeah right, sorry." Both were efficiently assessing Beckett's injuries when Meredith came back, her running shoes squeaking on the cold ceramic floor. "Derek's on his way. How is she?"

"We just gave her two units of blood and she's going to need an MRI and scans before deciding if she needs surgery or not. The swelling in her left shoulder indicates that either her collarbone or scapula is fractured, she's got a couple of broken ribs and the breath sounds are shallow on the left side," Cristina detailed the injuries one by one as the cardiothoracic surgeon cut through the cop's bra and ran professional fingers down Kate's surgical scar.

"Other than that it's mostly cuts and lacerations. Surgeon did a good job." She commented as she mentally evaluated the previous damages done to her patient's heart. "The scar tissue is minimal and looks like she's had a chest tube in also. Try and use the exact same area if you need to put one in to minimize the scarring, I'm going to go page Sloan."

Meredith frowned and shifted her eyes from Cristina's departing form to her attending. "What does she mean? She's had surgery before?"

"Who's had surgery before?" Derek asked as he came in, his scrub cap already in place and a mask hanging from his neck.

"Detective Katherine Beckett," Bailey informed both doctors as she asked a nurse to give hand an intubation kit over. "Her partner said she was shot in the chest a few months ago. Her heart's holding fine so far but her left lung is about to collapse so Grey's going to intubate her now."

Meredith and Derek stared at each other, flashbacks coming back to the both of them. Derek had been shot in the chest last year when a grieving man, obsessed over his wife's death, came in the hospital armed and started shooting surgeons and other doctors, killing six and injuring another eleven.

Taking a deep breath, Meredith gently removed the breathing mask from Kate's face and proceeded to intubate her so her oxygen level would go back to normal. She listened to the breathing sounds when she was done and noted with satisfaction that the detective's vitals were going back up.

"Beckett? Richard Castle's muse?" Derek stared at his wife and Bailey in surprise, clearly not expecting this. "I guess it explains the cops out there...I thought she was a New York cop."

"She is but somehow she was working on the Governor's daughter's murder," Bailey began to say but her eyes jumped to the heart monitor when he started racing and Kate regained consciousness, her body thrashing against the restraints holding her in place. "Mrs. Beckett, it's alright, you need to try and calm down."

Bailey's voice had little effect on the detective so Derek moved into Kate's sight and moved his hands so one was on the woman's shoulder while the other held Kate's hand tightly. "Katherine, listen to me, okay? Don't fight the breathing tube or you will be in even more pain. Your lungs are too weak right now so just let the tube breathe for you, can you do that? That's it, just relax, let it do its job."

Derek was speaking calmly and smiled gently when agonizing and glassy sienna eyes locked on his. "That's it, you're doing good. That's it, just relax."

Kate struggled and tried to fight against the hands on her and especially against the tube running down her throat, feeling like it was trying to choke her to death from the inside. She forced herself to relax but the pain she was in made it hard to focus on anything but on the pair of blue eyes currently staring at her.

She heard a man's voice talking softly to her and her fuzzy mind clung to it like a lifeline, oddly thinking that it sounded like Castle. Her sight was blurry but she found herself staring at a pair of warm, blue eyes, which only added to her confusion. The man's hair, darker, longer and somewhat curly was what finally told her that Castle wasn't by her side anymore, sending her into another fit of panic.

The voice was still talking softly to her as she felt her eyelids growing heavier and her head began to spin viciously. She panicked against the unwelcome feeling but she knew there was no escaping it. As the drugs rapidly sent her into an artificial slumber, it was with a resigned sense of relief that she let herself succumbed to the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

Richard Castle was going out of his mind. He had been pacing the attendings' lounge for the past three hours and he needed to do something, or go outside for some fresh air but he was scared to leave the room in case the doctors would come to see him.

The phone in his hand was still warm from all the phone calls he had to make. He had called Kate's father first, hoping he hadn't heard it in the news already but he remembered Kate saying something about him going on vacation in Italy with a friend so he left a message on his voicemail, as much as he hated to do that.

His second phone call was to Kate's best friend and New York M.E., Lanie Parish. She was now on her way over and, this time, Castle didn't argue. She had been in the ambulance with him months ago when Kate had been shot and she had been the first one to fight for her friend's life; the mention of Kate being in another accident had torn her apart and she couldn't just stay in New York and wait for news.

He then called Gates and she was to meet with detectives Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan, Kate's other partners, to inform them of the situation while he called home. Her mother had offered to fly all the way here to support him but he had refused, stating that she had to be there for his daughter Alexis.

His daughter had been distressed at the news of Kate being involved into another accident but she promised to stay put and made Castle promised in return to call as often as possible with updates.

Castle had just gotten a text from Lanie telling him she had boarded the plane when Meredith came in and purposefully walked up to him. "Mister Castle? Hi, I'm Dr Meredith Grey."

He typed back 'doctor's here' and shoved the phone in his coat pocket to meet her, recognizing her from when they had arrived at the hospital. "How is she?"

"Come on, Mr. Castle, let's sit." Meredith gestured for him to take a seat as well and she could tell that the man was barely hanging on by a thread. "She's okay, surgery was a success."

Castle released a breath he didn't know he was holding and felt his eyes tear up at the news he had been praying for. "Good. God, that's...thank you. She's going to be okay? How extensive are her injuries?"

Meredith glanced down at the chart she was holding before meeting back the writer's anxious ones. "Katherine's left scapula is broken, she's got two fractured rib on the right side and three on the left. They probably broke since the cartilage holding them is still a little weak from when she had surgery the last time."

"There was minimal internal bleeding and it was probably due by receiving the other man's knee or hand in her side when they fell so we took care of that. Her pelvis is bruised and yes, bones can bruise. Thankfully it didn't crack or got displaced, and neither did her hips so she's just going to be sore for a while. Um, Doctor Sloan took care of the lacerations on her ankle, thighs and hips. He's the best cosmetic surgeon there is and he said the scars would practically become invisible with time. Her left wrist is broken as well but the fracture was clean so we put it in a cast and it'll be fine."

"Oh," Meredith smiled at Castle, keeping this bit of news for the end so he had something positive to hang on to. "She has a hairline fracture above the occipital lobe but there isn't any swelling in the brain so far, which is really good. We'll still have to watch her closely for the next forty-eight hours, but that's about it. Now, we had to intubate her before going into surgery because of her collapsed lung but she should be able to get off the ventilator in a few hours, once her lungs are strong enough to breathe on their own. "

Castle stared hard into the doctor's blue eyes, and didn't know if he should hug her or kiss her. Settling for the first one, he leaned in and wrapped her tightly in his arms, grateful for Kate's luck and her doctors' kindness. "Thank you."

Meredith smiled and glanced down curiously when she felt an incessant vibration coming from the man's jacket pocket. Castle smiled sheepishly and pulled out his phone to find twenty-three text messages from Lanie. "That's her best friend. I'm not sure what to tell her."

"Well, my advice would be to keep it simple. She's okay, fractured scapula and ribs, cuts. Extremely lucky to be alive and to not being more severely injured," Meredith told him and stood up as her pager went off. "We'll come and take you to your girlfriend as soon as she's out of recovery, okay?"

"Oh, um, she's not my girlfriend," Castle corrected her but Meredith saw the desire in his eyes. She grinned apologetically and checked her pager as she juggled with her other charts, but Castle's voice made her stop a few feet short of the door. "Dr. Grey?"

"Yes?"

"It's Kate. If you want to be on her good side, call her Kate, not Katherine, or especially not Ms Beckett. And believe me, you don't want to be on the receiving end of her pig headed temper."

Meredith made a note on the chart and smiled gently. "Okay, got it."

The phone vibrating once again, startling Castle. Meredith was gone and he was left alone once more, but waiting a while longer wasn't as agonizing as much anymore. Because she was okay. She was alive. Glancing down at the phone, Castle took a deep breath and answered. "Esposito, hey man."

* * *

Cristina, Alex, Lexi and Jackson were already seated and eating in the hospital cafeteria when Meredith joined them several minutes later. "Hey, you started without me."

"Stop smooching your husband in the radiology department and you'll be on time next time." Alex smirked and expertly avoided Cristina's hand when she tried to smack him on the back of the head.

"Shut up, Alex, I was with Richard Castle." Meredith slumped on a chair and stole Cristina's sandwich, and took a huge bite of it before her friend could grab it back.

"Ooh, I love his books!" Lexi exclaimed excitedly, but one stern glare from her half-sister calmed her down. "How is he? I can't believe that he and the detective that inspired his Heat novels are here in this hospital."

Cristina nodded and held her hand over Meredith's face and stared until the blonde rolled her eyes and gave her back her sandwich, although it was more than a few pieces of crusts now. "He's got some nerves, that's for sure," she said as she dropped the bread in her tray.

"How come?" Jackson asked curiously as the tall, tanned resident with a shaved head leaned on the table to hear about their VIP patient. The fifth year residents exchanged a look and glanced at their friends and colleagues, silently determining who would have the honor to talk first.

"He nearly bit Bailey's head off when she asked him to move on the tarmac. He was like 'you're the one who has to save her so why the hell aren't you moving yet?' And then he stood up to her when she refused to let him stay in the room." Cristina said with a smirk, poorly imitating Castle's voice.

Alex scoffed and nodded in appreciation as he took a sip of his soda. "Dude's got balls."

"He's actually really nice. I mean it's obvious that they're more than just partners even if he denies it, but he really was upset by his friend's accident," Meredith pointed out, and Lexi waved her hand frantically in front of her as if it could help her swallow faster.

"They aren't together? Really?"

"Nope. He corrected me when I mentioned Detective Beckett being his girlfriend."

Lexi was shocked as she looked between her female friends and colleagues. "But it is so obvious he's in love with her, I mean his Heat series? That is one heck of a love letter. And that sex scene..."

Meredith and Cristina echoed Lexi's moan and all three blushed, their eyes suddenly averting their male counterparts. "What?" Jackson choked on his salad, his baby blue eyes bulging as he stared to his girlfriend. "Lexi?"

Pagers beeped all around and all three girls jumped on their feet, saved by the bell. "I need to go check on Detective Beckett."

Cristina grabbed Alex's bottle of water and smirked, running after Meredith. "I'm coming with you!"

Lexi looked like a deer caught in headlights, her eyes wide and unblinking as she searched for an excuse. "I'll, um, I need to...um... go over there."

Jackson watched his girlfriend leave, a pensive frown on his face. "Do you think that..."

"Dude, don't."

"But-"

"Sex scenes in books are for chicks, okay? I mean, seriously, what kind of name is Rook anyway? Just forget about it." Alex mumbled and cursed when his pager beeped as well. "Damn."

"What?"

Alex shoved his pager in his pocket and pushed his chair to stand up. "Dude who almost killed the cop's crashing again."

The resident was almost out of the cafeteria when Jackson realized what Alex had said. "Karev! How do you know his name if you didn't read the books?"

Alex Karev only turned around and fell into a jog through the surgery wing to go and find his patient, a smirk on his face.

* * *

Two hours later, Beckett had finally been transferred to ICU and Castle was sitting by her side, his hand intertwined with Kate's. He noted with great relief that she didn't look as bad as he had feared; not that she could ever look bad, that would be impossible. But her face was thankfully unmarred saved from some bruising on her forehead and cheek, and if it weren't for her unusually pale features and the breathing mask covering part of her face, Castle almost could've believed she was sleeping peacefully. Almost.

The battery of machines surrounding her bed betrayed the woman's medical condition. The heartbeat monitor and breathing machine were creating a soft but artificial sense of peace for Castle, as every beeping and hissing sound were reminding him that she was alive.

Castle was concerned about how Kate would react once she woke up and realized that she would be in for another undetermined stay in the hospital, and would most likely have to go through another round of physical therapy. The writer was mostly worried though about how she'd react once it dawned on her that she'd have a whole other set of scars to deal with. Even if he had been told they'd most likely fade completely over time, Castle was worried the repercussions they would have on Kate.

His eyes kept going from her face to the rest of her body and he could only imagined the beating her body had taken for the second time in less than six months, the sheets covering her bruised limbs and bandages keeping him from seeing anything. The only hint he had regarding the violence of her fall was the massive bruise and swelling covering her shoulders. They couldn't move her around too much because of her broken scapula so they hadn't tied her hospital gown in her back, instead letting it rest just above her chest and leaving her shoulders uncovered.

She would undoubtedly be embarrassed about it when she woke up but Castle didn't care. He'd be there to take the heat, because that's what he did. He wouldn't leave her alone this time, even if she was to tell him the same cowardly excuse about needing time. She was in for a hell of a fight if she thought he'd leave again.

A pressure on Kate's back brought her back to consciousness an hour later. The pressure quickly became unbearable as the burning sensation spread to her whole body and she gasped painfully, her back arching from the bed. The move only aggravated the pressure on her broken scapula and a low groan escaped her lips just as she felt hands on her. Her eyes snapped open but everything was blurry, and it took her a moment before discerning the voice. Castle? "Ugh."

Meredith and Derek were in the hallway talking when they heard the monitors' warning alarms coming from the detective room, and Richard Castle's anxious voice attempting to calm down his friend. Both quickly jogged the ten feet separating them from the patient and walked in as Castle was doing his best to calm his partner down. "What's going on?"

"She just woke up and she won't stay still." Castle didn't take a look at who entered the room, his eyes only leaving Kate's face a second when he recognized the second voice. "Dr. Grey."

"Mister Castle." The woman greeted him as she moved next to him and put a soft but firm hand over Kate's thigh to prevent her from lifting it further. "Hi Kate, I'm Dr. Grey. I'm sorry you're in a lot of pain right now but we're going to take care of that, okay?"

She smiled warmly when clouded sienna eyes were staring back at her and she moved her hand to adjust the breathing mask over the detective's face. "Dr. Shepherd here is going to give you something to make you feel better, but while he does that try to keep still and not move your legs, okay? Just lie down, relax and try to keep as still as you can." The speech was standard protocol and, if it usually helped calming down the patients, the challenging glare Meredith got from Kate made her revise her future choice of words. A glance at her husband and she knew that Derek had thought the same thing. From the looks of it there was much more Kate Beckett in Castle's Nikki Heat character than they could've ever guessed.

Kate's features relaxed as the painkillers ran into her bloodstream, her limbs stilling except for her right hand that was still clutched tightly in Castle's hand. Her eyes were still dazed and glassy but she could focus somewhat more clearly on the other occupants of the room. "Is it better?"

The detective's weak nod relieved Castle, who sighed deeply and leaned down to softly pressed his lips on her forehead. "Thank you." He whispered to the doctors when he looked at them. Castle glanced between Meredith and the other doctor curiously, noticing immediately that there was something special about them. "Oh," Meredith caught on and she walked back to Derek as she spoke, "Mister Castle, this is Derek Shepherd. He's the head of neurology here."

"Neuro?" They all turned to the sound of the muffled voice that came from the bed. Kate's eyes were heavy and breathing seemed difficult for her but she was still awake and she was staring straight at Derek. "Yes. But no worries, my being here has nothing to do with your condition. Your brain is perfectly fine."

Kate closed her eyes and, after some effort from her part, reopened them and squeezed Castle's hand. "He...must be...here for...you...then." She croaked and there was the tiniest hint of a smirk on her lips when Castle laughed and squeezed her hand back. "Keep talking like this, detective, and I'll leave you alone with them and their poking around."

It was Meredith's turn to smirk when Castle winced, having seen Kate's fingers pinched Rick's hand, but she hid it by turning her head and writing down the patient's latest vitals on the chart. "Do not even think I haven't seen you." Castle teased her when she looked back at them.

Derek grinned in amusement as he stepped closer to them, taking it out a thing flashlight out of his front pocket as he did so. "Not that I want to hold him to his threat but now that you are awake, it unfortunately really is time to ask you to step aside a few minutes while we check Katherine and have a nurse come in to change her bandages."

"It's Kate, by the way."

Derek shot Meredith a curious look but she only shrugged. "She prefers Kate, not Katherine. Am I right?" She asked the woman in question and grinned when she received a surprised but affirmative nod. "And I'll do the bandages. The nurses are prying enough as it is, no need to have them here snooping around more than they have to."

"Very well then. Kate, it will only be for a few moments and we'll let Mister Castle here as soon as we're done."

Castle didn't want to leave and, judging by the panicked look on Beckett's face, she didn't want him to go either. The writer was somewhat shocked that Kate wanted him there and he had to admit that he was more than pleasantly surprised. "Do you want me to stay?" Kate's rasped 'yes' was all he needed and he looked up expectantly at Meredith, who was staring back at them uncertainly. "Um."

"I promise that I will in no way be in your way or comment on your work nor will I try to look at something I'm not authorized to. Oww!"

"Just...shut it, Rick." Kate whispered. She would have rolled her eyes if they had been open but it was already taking her everything just to remain awake, so she settled for pinching the man's hand again.

"She's feisty." Derek mouthed to Castle with a chuckle before turning over to Kate, who was openly glaring at him. It didn't have the expected effect considering she was heavily sedated and clutching her partner's hand as if it was her only life line, but Derek got the message nonetheless. "Fine, you can stay but if Bailey finds you here, I had nothing to do with it."

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, Meredith was finally done and was carefully finishing wrapping Kate's thigh with sterile gauze when her pager vibrated against her hip. She lifted her scrub shirt to see from who it was and smiled when she saw it was from Derek. "Your husband?"

Meredith's head snapped up at the quiet comment from Castle. The writer had been silent ever since Kate had fallen asleep after getting another dose of morphine to help with the pain. Castle was sitting near Kate's head and had one hand stroking delicately her arm while the other rested close to her head, his features pale after witnessing firsthand the exact damages the detective's body suffered. "Yes."

"Dr. Shepherd?"

"Were we that obvious?" Meredith asked, her face suddenly serious and concerned. "I am so sorry if we did anything that made-"

"Dr. Grey-"

"Please, call me Meredith." She smiled easily, amazed at how down to earth the famous novelist was. He was the complete opposite of what she had heard about him, and she wondered if his encounter with the NYPD detective had something to do with it.

Castle echoed her smile but his was strained and made only for her benefit. "Fine then, Meredith. You didn't do anything wrong, I just noticed the way you guys shared looks and how you moved around each other. Plus, matching wedding bands."

"Oh right, of course. Okay, well I'll go for now but I'll be back in a few hours to check on her. Is there anyone you need to call, or somewhere to be? We'll take good care of her in your absence."

Castle shook his head vehemently, and the look he got in her eyes told Meredith there would be no way to make him leave the hospital anytime soon. "Lanie, her best friend I told you about, she should be here soon. Once she gets here I'll go to our hotel to grab some things. It's not that I don't trust you, I mean you're already far better than her doctor from last time, but I'm not leaving her. No this time."

Meredith had the feeling there was much more to the story, but she didn't want to impose and she had other patients to see, so she acquiesced and reminded him about coming back soon, and to ask for Lexi or Cristina if he needed anything.

Castle shifted his eyes back to Kate once the doctor was gone, and exhaled a shaky breath. He was already weighing different options for when his partner would be released from the hospital, even though it wouldn't likely happen for at least several days. Plans were formed in his mind as he watched her sleep, eager yet dreading for when she would wake up again.

_Thoughts? Comments? R&R! _


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks a lot for the reviews, follows, favorites...they're really apreciated! Don't be shy, keep'em coming!

Just a little reminder that this is mostly unbeta'ed, and that English is my second language so if there's any typo or mistakes, I am sorry.

* * *

The Seattle Grace-Mercy West Hospital was busy, interns running around like headless chickens while residents and attendings kept them in line, but New York M.E. Lanie Parish didn't pay any attention to them as she quickly walked through the surgery wing hallways, searching for her best friend's room. Castle's texts had been anything but helpful, so it was with relief that she finally pushed open the ICU doors after only a few minutes of searching and walking around.

She counted in her head and took a deep breath as she reached the 5th room, where Kate was.

The sight that welcomed her simultaneously comforted her, and broke her heart. Seeing her friend in a hospital bed again brought back memories of the shooting, except for one major difference. Castle was sitting next to the cop's bed, his head close to hers and his strong hand wrapped around Kate's slender one.

Lanie quietly walked in and stopped at the foot of the bed, letting her eyes roam over her friend's injured body, taking in any bruise and bump that was visible to the naked eye. She already knew it'd be hell to handle an injured Kate again, if last time was any indication.

Sighing at the painful memories, Lanie debated about waking up Castle or not. She guessed it was better he knew she was there so cautiously as to not startle him, the woman poked his hand a few times while whispering his name.

Castle grunted and yawned, cracked an eye open. The other quickly followed when he saw who was standing next to him. "Lanie, hey. You're here already?" He asked sleepily, wincing as his back popped when he vacated the uncomfortable chair.

Lanie let the man hug her, both needing the comforting touch right now. "Yeah, the plane was early and I paid extra for the cab driver to get me here as fast as he could. How is she?"

"The same. She woke up earlier but she was in too much pain so her doctor gave her something stronger. She's been sleeping for the last...almost three hours now." Castle yawned and glared as soon as his eyes met Lanie's. "No."

"Come on, boy, you look awful and you really need to change clothes," Lanie argued and, for the first time, Castle realized the blood stains on his shirt and pants. He had washed his hands after they had gotten to the hospital but he had forgotten about his clothes. "She won't be alone, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

"She's going to wake up soon." Castle replied weakly, but the soft look the M.E. observed him with wasn't negotiable.

"I'll be right here with her, she'll understand. She's a grown girl, Castle, she's done it before."

Castle yawned again, the adrenaline from before having been gone for a while now. He was exhausted and needed a shower badly, but he lingered anxiously in the room nonetheless. "No. I don't know why, but this time is different. She wouldn't even let me leave the room while the doctor treated her and changed her bandages."

Lanie stared at him in surprise, although she quickly recovered. Her friend's chart was missing from her room so the M.E. didn't have a chance to take a look to know exactly what was going on but, judging on the novelist's dismayed features, it didn't bode well. "She let you look?"

"Not exactly, she allowed me to stay with her." He amended and raised his hands quickly in defense when Lanie seemed about to smack him. "I didn't look, Lanie, I swear. I just saw the gashes on her right leg and it was enough for me."

"Hey, she's alive, right? She's here, alive and with us, and we'll help her through this. But in order for that to happen, you need to be well rested and cleaned up. It is now...7:22 p.m, so I don't want to see you again before that time tomorrow morning." Lanie ordered him. "I'll stay with her the whole time so go, and bring back coffee. This isn't a discussion!" She warned him when he tried to argue again, so Lanie pointed him to the door until he took the hint.

"Fine." He capitulated at long last. "If you need anything, ask a nurse for Meredith Grey or Derek Shepherd. If they aren't available, ask for Lexi Grey or Cristina Yang, okay?" Castle sighed as he grabbed his jacket, already missing Kate. He bent over the hospital bed rail and kissed her gently on the temple, not even caring about Lanie being in the room as well. "I love you, Kate. I'll be back soon, I promise."

* * *

Kate began stirring on her bed thirty minutes later as she fought against the medication. "Kate?"

'Hmm.' The detective thought she knew the voice calling her but as part of her brain remembered being in Seattle and not New York, she thought at first she had hallucinated her friend's voice.

With regaining consciousness came the pain. It was threatening to overwhelm her but she fought against it and, instead of trying to crawl away from it like the previous time, she remained still and focused on her breathing.

It was only when she heard the voice again that Kate risked opening her eyes, expecting to see Castle at her side, but she was surprised to distinguish the features of her best friend. "Lanie?"

"Hey sweetie." The M.E. grinned while her medical trained eyes locked on her friends'. "Do I need to call a doctor?"

Kate sluggishly shook her head the best she could, far from being in a hurry to be poked and prodded again. "What...you..."

"Hey, don't talk, okay? Keep your strength for when you'll really need it. I got here about an hour ago, there was no way I was going to stay in New York while you're here."

"But-"

"Nuh-uh. What the hell went through your mind today? Are you trying to kill us? You could've been killed, or worse!"

Kate winced at Lanie's words, knowing they were true even though she hadn't planned any of this. It was Jensen's fault if he had grabbed her before falling through the glass, not hers. "Worse than...die?"

"Don't. I'll do the talking for now, and don't play smartass with me, Katherine Elizabeth Beckett." Lanie warned her. The medical examiner had only used her full name twice before, and it was never a good sign. "You could've broken your back or neck, you could've stayed paralyzed or have neurological damages! What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"I...I didn't-" Kate began but her heart was pounding in her chest and the force of it was sending waves of pain through her ribs and back. Lanie's demeanor changed the second she saw the tears in her friend's eyes and heard the heart monitor increasing rapidly. "Hey, hey it's okay I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell and, and come on sweetie, breathe for me, okay?"

"Is everything okay?" Meredith asked as she entered the room, alerted by the monitors' frantic beeping. She quickly walked to Kate's bed and glanced at the heart monitor, frowning. "It's my fault," Lanie blurted out as she stood as well and lingered closed to the detective's bed as well. "I was talking and I got upset, I said things I shouldn't have."

Meredith absently nodded as she adjusted Kate's IVs, her eyes focused on her patient. "Are you okay, Kate? Do you want me to go and find Mister Castle?"

Kate hadn't noticed Castle's absence yet but now that Meredith had mentioned it, she frowned in confusion as she looked around the room for the man. "He'll be back in a few hours, sweetie. I sent him back to your hotel to change and get some rest." Lanie explained gently. "I'm Lanie Parish. Kate's best friend." She added when Meredith stared at her intently.

"Oh, okay then. Well, I was coming to let you know that my shift had ended so Dr. Kepner will be taking care of you tonight, and Dr. Bailey and Sloan will probably come by in the morning as well. They're the ones who operated on you today so they'll want to check if everything's healing fine." She informed Beckett, turning to face her but missing the spark of fear that ignited in the detective's eyes at the mention of surgery. "But Derek's on shift all night so if there's something wrong you can ask for him, okay?"

"Katie, honey it's okay." Lanie quickly tried to capture the woman's attention as soon as Meredith was out the door. "It's not as bad as you think it is, I promise you."

Judging by the glare Lanie received, Kate was far from being convinced. "I want...to...see."

"What? Hell no, girl! You're all bandaged and settled for the night, I ain't touching you until that doctor comes back." Lanie put her foot down and ignored the detective's frustrated look. "And you know you can glare all you want, there's nothing you can do that can change my mind."

Kate knew her friend was right, which only annoyed her even more. Still, she wasn't ready to back down. The plan B she had come with lasted for about ten seconds until she tried to move her hand in a feeble attempt to touch her limbs over the blankets, but found out she couldn't even do more than weakly bend her fingers. "Lanie..."

The M.E. was back to her side in a heartbeat and took the offending hand in hers. "Honey, you went through a glass ceiling and fell down three stories less than twelve hours ago, your body is still in shock, give it time. You'll be better in the morning. You should try to sleep because the whole 'dark circles under your eyes and looking as if you were hit by a truck' look? Not your best one."

Kate sighed and closed her eyes, relieved when it made the harsh fluorescent light disappear. She heard a noise and her eyes snapped back open, thinking Lanie had left. "I'm right here, I promised you I wasn't going anywhere." The whisper came from her right so, after some effort, the detective stared into dark chocolate, concerned eyes of her best friend. "Go to sleep, sweetie."

Instead of doing so, however, Kate fought the medication and stared into dark chocolate eyes, her hazy mind spinning. Lanie leaned forward and rest her head against Kate's when she realized that she wanted to talk but couldn't much because of her weak lungs and the mask covering her face. "I'm sorry." She finally whispered, needing to voice what had been plaguing her since Lanie had arrived. "I didn't...he...grabbed...me and...fell with...him...couldn't...stop."

Enraged when reality dawned on her, Lanie contained herself as to not worry her friend even more. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know. Does Castle knows?"

Frowning at the woman's lack of response, Lanie exhaled a deep breath as she saw that Kate had succumbed to sleep.

* * *

'7:20 a.m.' Castle sighed and slowed down his pace as he walked through the surgical wing corridors. He was taking Lanie's warning seriously because throughout the years, he had seen what she was capable of if you were stupid enough to step on her toes. 'I guess it's no wonders why she and Kate are best friends,' he thought absently as he did his best to appease his nervous mind at the idea to finally being with Beckett again.

Castle got a glimpse of himself just as he walked by a window and he couldn't say he loved what he saw. He was pale and even the three cups of coffee he had drank already weren't enough to give him the boost he needed to survive the day. The man had gotten only a few brief hours of sleep before a nightmare woke him up in sweat. He had almost came back at the hospital then, but he had come to his senses at the last minute.

He was still pondering whether he should be proud for sticking to his promise or smack himself for being afraid of the M.E. when voices coming from Kate's room reached his ears. "No, I'm sorry, not yet but you can ask Dr. Bailey when she'll get here."

Curious as to put a face at the new voice, Castle put on a cheery smile and walked in the room. "Good morning, ladies."

His grin faded when he saw the pure look of annoyance emanating from Kate's pale features. He shot Lanie a concerned glance but the woman only shrugged, clearly not wanting to talk. Confused but playing along anyway Castle turned on the new doctor. "Hi, I'm Rick. You're one of Kate's doctors?"

Chief resident April Kepner blushed and smiled brightly, nodding. "No. Well, y-yes and no. I'm Dr. April Kepner, hi. I'm not technically one of Ms. Beckett's doctors but as chief resident I have to check everyone's round to keep up for when one of the other doctors aren't here."

Castle smiled politely and shook the girl's hand and caught sight of Kate as she glanced to Lanie and rolled her eyes. The effect wasn't complete considering she was still heavily sedated and groggy, but the intention was there.

Castle bit back a laugh, half-amused and half-confused as whatever seemed to be going on in the room. "Is everything okay?" He asked as he rounded the bed to go and sit on the remaining available chair, but not before locking eyes with the injured woman and gently kissed her on the forehead. "Hey."

"Hey."

"You shouldn't try to talk with the mask on, it makes your lungs work harder to breathe and since they're still pretty weak, every unnecessary effort should be avoided, okay?" April advised Kate with an authoritative tone as she moved a small cart closer to the bed. This time the glare was obvious to anyone but April. "Dr. Bailey should be here soon and then we'll redo your bandages."

Castle and Lanie exchanged a look and the man quickly took the detective's hand, squeezing it so she'd turn her eyes on him. The irritation faded from her features when she glanced up at him and saw his warm smile. His thumb's soft strokes on her hand were soothing and Kate had almost forgotten about the doctor in the room until she spoke again with an unusually shrill voice. "I must say it is an honor to have you here, sir. I mean not here here because you aren't a patient and it's definitely not a happy thing for you to have your um, friend here but I guess I'm just trying to say that it is an honor to meet you."

Lanie locked eyes with Kate, her expression screaming 'are you freaking kidding me?' while Kate was getting seriously annoyed with the doctor. Her hand was clutching the sheet tightly and the medical examiner knew that only the medication was what kept Beckett to bite the doctor's head off.

Thankfully they were all distracted when two more doctors came in the room, everybody immediately falling silent. "Morning, everyone." Dr. Mark Sloan announced himself as he shot a self-assured look around, a smile wide on his face. "I believe we haven't been introduced." He walked over to Castle and Lanie, his hand raised. "I'm Dr. Mark Sloan, head of cosmetic surgery, and Dr. Miranda Bailey is the general surgeon attending here."

"Richard Castle and this is Lanie Parish," Castle made a quick presentation, all the while staying close to Kate.

"Now that everyone knows each other and has exchanged addresses for next year's Christmas cards, maybe we could get back to why we're here so we can leave Ms. Beckett alone to rest." Dr. Bailey said with a stern eye, shooting everybody a professional glare.

Everyone stood straighter and looked positively chastised, except Kate, who was smirking under her mask. "And you think this is funny, don't you?" Bailey told her, but her voice didn't hold the same edge as before and there was the slightest trace of a smile on her lips.

"Kind of, yeah." Kate replied before wincing, her throat feeling as if she had swallowed gravel.

Bailey pursed her lips as her narrowed eyes found April's, the resident already knowing what she was going to be asked but remaining silent nonetheless. "Did she have anything to drink since last night?"

"Only a few ice chips. She hasn't been cleared for liquids yet." Lanie piped in as she turned to April with dark eyes. "Dr. Kepner here said it wasn't safe to remove the breathing mask yet."

"Well, all vitals look good so I don't see the harm in taking it off a few minutes. I need to test your lungs' strength anyway, so we'll be killing two birds with one stone." Bailey smiled down to Kate before extending it to Castle and Lanie as well. "I'll just undo this..." The short woman cautiously reached behind Kate's head and finally released her from the mask, at the woman's greatest pleasure. "Thanks."

"Now I know Dr. Grey has authorized you in here last night, but we will need the both of you to give us a few minutes, and we'll come and get you as soon as we're done."

Castle was about to protest when Kate squeezed his hand, her eyes wide but not as afraid as before. "You can go."

"Are you sure?" Neither of them wanted to leave her, but the detective was keeping her ground. "I'm sure. Go call your daughter, and you," she glanced at her best friend, "talk to Espo, see how's everything back home."

Lanie rolled her eyes but acquiesced and carefully hugged her friend before kissing her on the cheek. "Be nice to them, or there will be no surprise for you later."

Kate glared, knowing that everybody else had heard as clearly as her, but Castle's face suddenly inches from hers made her forget all about her friend's warning. "Castle."

"Don't be stubborn. They're all here to help you." Their foreheads were touching and his eyes stared hard into the woman's darkened sienna orbits, hoping to infuse her with his love and faith in her. "We'll be back as soon as they're done, okay?" Castle brought his hand to her cheek, his thumb softly stroking it as he leaned and pressed his lips on her cheek, so close to her mouth she could almost feel his lips on hers.

All were quiet in the room as Castle and Lanie left the room. Kate had her eyes closed as she tried to bring her heartbeat back to normal and she hated more than ever to be wired to a heart monitor. As much as she wanted to hide it, the machine was currently proving everyone just how much the man's touch had affected her.

"You're okay?"

Kate forced her eyes open and turned her head to where Dr. Sloan was watching her kindly. "Yeah."

"That was some-"

"Dr. Sloan! We're trying to work here?" Kepner chided him curtly as she turned to Kate and put on gloves. "Sorry, Ms. Beckett."

Kate ignored her and instead focused her tired gaze on Bailey. The woman might be short, barely over five feet tall, but it wasn't fooling the detective; she knew she was the one with the most authority there. "Do you really need to have...three doctors in the room to do whatever...it is you need to do?"

"Oh, um no, not necessarily, but this is a teaching hospital, so-"

"Isn't she chief resident?" Kate interrupted her and doing her best to ignore the girl who was currently staring at her with wide eyes.

"Yes, but-"

"It means she already has several...years of medical training...right? Was my surgery unusual, did it involve some sort of...complications she's never seen before?"

Bailey and Sloan exchanged a look, both fighting off a smirk. "No," Sloan piped in helpfully and with a wide smile, "your surgery was uneventful and a complete success."

Kate nodded and tried to relax on her bed, letting her eyes slide to April briefly before going back to the other doctors. "Then I'm sure you wouldn't mind me asking Dr. Kepner to step out? Aren't two...doctors enough already?"

"With all due respect Miss, this is your not decision to make." April countered, her eyes still wide but definitely irritated at the detective's behavior.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure...it is within my rights to refuse to be looked at like...I'm sort of rag doll by someone whose...presence isn't mandatory here."

Sloan snorted and shook his head at April. "Sorry, Dr. Kepner."

Bailey glared but she had to admit that her patient had guts. Richard Castle might be getting on her nerves, no matter how big a fan she was, but she was starting to like Beckett. A lot. "I would normally agree to such a request but she will need to do your bandages after, is that going to be a problem?"

Kate was feeling the painkillers pulling her to sleep again, but she wasn't done yet. "Meredith told me I could...request Dr. Grey or Dr. Yang if I wasn't comfortable...with anything or anyone. I know I'm asking a lot, but would it be...possible to ask any of them if they were available?"

She really had guts, Bailey smirked inwardly. She thought about denying the request just to see her reaction, but whether she liked it or not, Kate Beckett was a VIP in this hospital, a special request that had come from the Senator Donovan himself. "Kepner, go page Lexi Grey, tell her to come."

"What?"

Bailey raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you what-ing me now?"

"No, ma'am. I'll go find Dr. Grey."

Kate could have sworn she saw April glared at her on her way out, but she didn't care. She had enough to deal with without having to suffer through another of Castle groupie. She had seen the way the resident kept glancing at the writer, her writer with googly eyes and there was no way she was going to let her touch her. On the plus side, by the way the other two doctors were looking at her when she met their eyes again, she had just made their day. "Sorry."

"It's fine, no worries about it. April can be...intense, but she's a good doctor." Sloan told her with a smile just as he put on gloves as well and began to pull back the covers.

Kate swallowed with some difficulty and let her eyes closed a few moments. "Is she better...than you?"

"Ha! You were right, Dr. Bailey, she is a funny one. Is that how you treat your suspects in the interrogation room?" Sloan laughed and Bailey smirked although she quickly pushed it back.

"Yeah, they wish." Kate tensed as she felt expert hands pulling down her hospital gown and cautiously peeled back bandages, willing herself not to flinch as the tape and gauze pulled on her stitches and skin. She focused her gaze on the ceiling, feeling awkward and hating that the current situation was making her blush. She fought the desire to squirm away from their touch and suddenly wished she hadn't told Castle to leave as the stress and pain from the accident were starting to catch up with her again.

Bailey noticed the strain on the woman's face and she checked her vitals on the monitors, frowning at them a moment. "We're almost done, Kate, and everything seems to be healing perfectly fine. There is some swelling but that's normal, so there's nothing to worry about that. How's the pain on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the highest?"

Kate struggled to think a moment, her thoughts clouded by the remnants of painkillers. "I don't know, 6?"

Sloan looked over at Bailey. The detective was hiding her pain well but, as Bailey read the decreasing level of oxygen and rising of her blood pressure on the monitors, the numbers were betraying her words. "Really? How bad is it comparing to your previous injury?"

No amount of pain was able to downplay the glare Sloan received from the injured woman and he realized he had just entered a dangerous territory. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude but we saw the surgical scars."

"Believe me," Kate 's voice stronger than she felt, "when I say that this doesn't even compare."

"I'm really sorry Kate, Dr. Sloan didn't want to put you on the spot. We'll just wait for Dr. Grey to arrive and then we'll let you get some rest. Would you like more water?"

"Please. Can I see?" Kate ultimately asked after draining several small gulps of water.

Bailey placed the glass back on the table and checked the monitors one last time before settling her gaze on the detective. "I think you should wait for the swelling to go down first, and to have someone with you. As good as Dr. Sloan is, right now it looks worse than it actually is. Now, I know you're not too eager to have the breathing mask back on but your oxygen level has decreased a bit too much so we'll try this instead." The general surgeon explained as she pulled out a nasal cannula and expertly tucked it under the woman's nose and behind her ears. "If isn't enough though you will have to put the mask back."

"Dr. Bailey, you paged me?" Lexi asked from the doorway, looking curiously at Kate and making obvious efforts to avoid glancing at Sloan.

"Yes, Miss Beckett, this is Dr. Grey. She will be in charge of taking care of your bandages, if that's okay?"

Kate caught the pointed look Bailey shot her and she smirked, glancing at Lexi who had came in the room to stand by the bed. Lexi was different from her half-sister, she noticed instantly. Lexi was taller, her hair was longer and much darker but her big, doe brown eyes were as friendly and kind as her sister's. "Yeah."

"Well, if my job is done, I have other patients to see. Miss Beckett, it was a pleasure." Bailey said and Sloan followed closely, squeezing her hand as he left.

"So, I hear you specially requested me?" Lexi asked and smiled at Kate as she gathered everything she needed to do her job.

"Your sister said I...could ask for you or Cristina...if I didn't like the other one." Kate ushered as she scrunched up her nose, disliking the feel of the rubber tube under her nose and running across her face.

Lexi laughed and Kate decided at that moment that she liked the other Grey as well.


	5. Chapter 5

I officially suck. I'm sorry I cannot keep a steady updating schedule, but all of my stories will be finished. Hopefully soon. Thank you for reading!

* * *

A routine was instituted over the next three days as Beckett got better and the excitement at having the famous writer in the hospital died down. A few nurses had been added to the staff authorized in the detective's room and April Kepner hadn't come back, to Kate's biggest pleasure. Dr. Meredith Grey was still her main treating doctor and both women had quickly become friends despite the unique relationship linking them.

Meredith had just come off her night shift and was currently sitting in the detective's room and were discussing the latest gossip amongst the hospital's walls. "How long do you think before Bailey and that cute anaesthesiologist will finally hook up again?"

The doctor smirked at her newest friend and shook her head mischievously. "Soon enough, hopefully. Cristina had this genius plan to make our first year residents keep asking Bailey questions whenever one of them was working with Ben, and they're always so confused that she has to go and see him to know what the hell is going on."

Kate winced when she laughed, but she ignored the sharp burning sensation with a happy smile. "That plan better work soon, I want to see them together before I get out of here."

"I can arrange that for you, you know. Find something to keep you here longer." Meredith mock-threatened, amused at the flash of horror that crossed the detective's face.

Kate scoffed and glared, but the effect was tamed because of the smirk teasing her lips. "You are so funny. As much as I like having you as a doctor, I can't wait to get out of here." Her lung was finally strong enough to get rid of the oxygen tube and she had been ecstatic when it had been removed a few hours before, along with the chest tube. She had also started walking again the day before, at her highest pleasure. She couldn't do more than a few steps alone yet, and every single one of them had brought in a new kind of pain and hell, but just to be able to get out of bed was a reward on its own.

"I know, and it should be soon enough, maybe even tomorrow if it all goes well. You know you won't be able to go back home right away though, right? You're looking into a couple of weeks of recovery and physical therapy here before it'll be safe for you to take the plane."

The smile faded on Kate's face but she nodded, having already had the talk with Castle and Lanie. "Yeah, I know."

"Where are you going to stay?" Meredith already knew but she wanted to hear it from the detective's mouth, to see how she was dealing with the situation.

"Castle rented an apartment close to here. Secured elevators, one floor apartment, two bedrooms." Kate enumerated from memory, a grim shadow crossing her face. "I really want to go back home though."

Meredith smiled sympathetically, imagining how hard it had to be to be stuck all the way across country without anyone by her side. "Rick is staying though, right?"

"Yeah," Kate breathed and the doctor saw the relief in her eyes even if she hadn't voiced it out loud yet. "Lanie is leaving tonight though."

"Because you're kicking me out of here, girl." Lanie reminded her as she came into the room, the detective's cell phone in hand. "Hello, Dr. Grey."

"Excuse me."

Lanie pointedly ignored Cristina's dry apologetic words for several seconds before she finally moved out of the doorway to let the Asian resident in. "Oh, sorry, Dr. Yang. I hadn't seen you there."

Cristina's mutterings were too low to be understood, but it didn't keep Meredith from throwing her friend a warning glare. "Hi, Dr. Parish." Meredith echoed with a grin.

Kate snorted and glanced between the three women. "Yeah, yeah, you're all doctors, so what? Lanie, I'm kicking you out because you have a job waiting for you in New York. Beside," she flashed an innocent look through her long lashes, "It's bad enough that Esposito and Ryan will be stuck without me a while longer, do you really want to let them deal with Perlmutter alone?"

Cristina smirked at the medical examiner being blatantly manipulated by her friend. "Yes, that sound so bad, whatever a Perlmutter is. What are you still doing here? Clearly you need to go back to keep your people in line. Far, far away from here."

"Cristina!"

Lanie merely smirked back and ran a small hand into her soft curly chocolate hair. "You're right, I do need to go, to take care of Dr. Perlmutter, and _her _people," She said too sweetly as she ignored Kate's scowl. "Shouldn't you be doing the same? Oh, that's right, you don't have _people_ to take care for, they're in charge _of you_."

Kate sighed and closed her eyes. She thought she had seen it all in April Kepner, but apparently there was something in the Seattle water because Lanie Parish and Cristina Yang, upon meeting, had practically hated each other.

The cop remained quiet as Cristina checked her oxygen level and the other machines, muttering and scribbling down hastily in the woman's chart. "So?"

"Lanie..." Kate warned but there was nothing she could do. Defeated, she glanced at Meredith and watched the show.

Cristina pursed her lips and mumbled something that no one could hear. "I'm sorry, I don't believe we heard what you said. What was that?" Lanie asked cooly.

"I said, her oxygen levels are stable. Her blood pressure is back up and her heart is not showing any signs of duress. We should be able to take her off the heart monitor later today."

Lanie was gloating. "Told you my girl was strong."

"More like pigheaded like her friend."

"Hey!"

"You let her get out of bed before she was even cleared by her surgeon! That's not your job, it's ours to clear our patients when we see them fit to take five steps without diving head first on the floor."

"You do have a point." Lanie conceded, but not without raising an eyebrow to the surgeon. "But it was nine steps, not five. And we got to her before she even had the slightest chance to actually fall, so. You were still wrong."

"Ok, that's enough!" Kate warned them and winced when she inhaled too sharply. "Don't make me hurt the both of you. Lanie, you do need to go back to keep the guys in line. God knows what they'll do if neither of us is there."

Lanie glared but she knew her friend was right. "That's your best argument? Care to tell them that to their face?" She asked and shook the iPhone in front of the woman's face.

Shock colored Kate's face before a blush crept its way on her features and down her neck. "Um."

"You've talked to them but they haven't seen you yet, sweetie, and I know they're getting crazy over there. The only thing keeping them from flying here is Gates's wrath. And yours if they do come here."

There was an hesitation on the detective's face, doubt. "When do they want to do that?"

"Now."

"Now?"

"Yes, they're on lunch break so they won't get harassed or disturbed by anyone. Please?"

Kate sighed and nodded, secretly excited to see her friends again. Lanie was setting up the Facetime app on the phone when the detective's voice distracted her. "How do I look?"

"You are perfectly fine, honey. You were in an accident a few days ago, not walking down red carpets and partying all night."

"Really? That's the comparison you're going with?" Kate glared.

Meredith watched the two bicker amicably, and suddenly felt out of place. "I should go while you talk to your friends, I'll come back later, okay?"

"No, don't go!" Kate asked her in a rush with a shy grin, "You could meet them, if you want to? That way they'll stop giving me and Castle the third degree every time we talk to them. Please?"

* * *

"Bro, she's on!" Esposito yelled when his phone chimed and Beckett's number appeared on the screen. Ryan jumped over his desk and followed his partner into the break room, quickly closing the door behind him. "Hey, boys."

"Hey, Lanie." Both men grinned at the M.E., their smiles growing much wider when the small camera moved from Lanie's face to include Kate as well. She was sitting close to the detective on the hospital bed and their heads were almost touching so they'd both fit in the screen. "Hi guys."

They both released deep breaths as they finally saw each other after several days. Castle and Lanie had texted a couple of pictures to keep them in the loop, a fact that had to keep quiet if they didn't want to get killed by Beckett, but seeing her moving and talking finally put a balm on their frazzled nerves.

The woman they had come to care about as if she was their own sister was still pale looking and broken, but already better than the first pictures they had received the day it happened.

"You know, if you wanted to go on vacation so bad, you could've just asked Gates." Ryan teased her just to see her glare, and was rewarded with just that when she narrowed her eyes at him. Her answer was not what they had expected though, when Kate groaned and tried to push the phone away. "God, is that how I look when I'm pissed? Get that thing away from me, Lanie!"

The detective was limited in her movements though so she couldn't do much without hurting herself and gave up pretty quickly when her ribs protested painfully. She threw one last annoyed glare to her friend and sighed, vanquished. "How is it back at the 12th, Gates giving you a hard time?"

Esposito sighed and shook his head, familiar with the woman's diversion technique. She didn't want to show exactly how bad she got hurt so she was changing the subject, but neither men felt like talking about their Captain right now. "Beckett..."

There was a brief glaring contest before Lanie rolled her eyes and softly poked her friend in the arm. "Honey. They are hundreds of miles away right now, and they're worried about you. Humor them and answer their questions."

The glare shifted to Lanie but she agreed, glancing back at the phone guiltily. "Sorry, Javi. Apparently Castle and Lanie are tired of answering your every question so go, ask away."

Kate spent the next fifteen minutes answering a continued flow of questions, ranging from her case to her injuries to her recovery. It was that last question that had her gasp, remembering about Meredith and Cristina. "Hey guys, talking about doctors, this is Meredith Grey, she's been the main doctor treating me since I've been here, and Cristina Yang. She's another surgeon resident here, and Lanie's new best friend." Lanie moved the phone away from Kate and toward the doctor, who smiled and waved at the screen while the Asian surgeon glared and waved awkwardly.

Esposito could swear he heard a soft gasp and his boss whining Lanie's name when the phone shook in the ME's hand, but decided it was best for him to ignore what may had just happened.

The guys began firing questions at the woman, mostly wanting to know what kind of patient she had been so far and bursting in laughter when she told them about Kate firing Kepner under the nose of two attendings.

* * *

"I get it now."

From the doorway just outside the room, Castle glanced at Derek curiously. They had been standing there for the past ten minutes, watching and smiling at the friendly display, not wanting to disrupt it. "What do you mean?"

"The reason why people are going crazy for your Nikki Heat books. If she's half of what Kate is, she must be one hell of a person to be friends with."

"As great as Nikki is, she doesn't even come close comparing to the real one." Castle agreed softly, his eyes shining at the sight of Kate smiling and chatting with their friends.

Derek glanced at the writer and took a step back in the hallway so they wouldn't risk being overheard. "You love her."

There was not a single moment of hesitation in the writer's voice. "Yes."

"She loves you back?"

Castle sighed and took a big sip of his coffee. It didn't taste like battery acid, but it was close. "I think she does, but she's not ready to admit it yet."

"You know, she reminds me of Meredith, back when we started going out." Derek told Castle, a wistful smile on his face. "We were together but she kept snaking away whenever it got too serious. Just the words 'girlfriend' and 'commitment' were enough to send her run in the other direction faster than saying 'hi'. She was so haunted by her past, and so terrified of being like her mother that she had convinced herself she was doomed, that she could never have a real, normal relationship."

Castle pondered the doctor's word quietly, and at how striking their stories were alike. "Kate's mother was murdered when she was nineteen and up until three years ago, she thought it was due to random gang violence until I started digging into the case. Someone put a price on her head when she got closer, but we still have no idea who. Kate had to shoot her mom's killer two years ago after he was about to kill me so she never had the chance to made him talk who had hired him."

"Those men then spent the last few years killing and destroying any remaining proof that might incriminate them while we've been inching closer to them. When we got too close again her captain was killed and Kate was shot at his funeral a few days later."

Derek shot Castle a sad yet understanding look. "I remember hearing about it. They caught her shooter?"

"No. She is safe now though, as long as she won't go anywhere near her mother's case again." Castle was cryptic but Derek figured that it must have been a cop thing, even if the writer wasn't one, so he didn't press the issue. "You were shot too last year, if I recall correctly?" Castle asked almost shyly, suddenly remembering about the shooting that had taken place in the hospital. "In the chest?"

"Yes, I was." The memory of the detective's scars when he first saw her flashed through the surgeon's mind, recalling that hers was fairly similar to his. "I take it that from the way you're asking, she isn't dealing well with it?"

"She refuses to talk about it. She's seeing a therapist to help her, but not a word to any of us."

"Give her time. She will get there when she's ready, and I have the feeling you'll be the one she will come to. Have faith in her, show her that she can have faith in you as well and you might be surprised."

Hysterical laughter suddenly erupted loudly from the room and both men exchanged a look, deciding it was time for them to make their presence known. Lanie was standing beside the bed and was half bent over it as she couldn't control her laughter while Meredith and Kate were beet red, tears running down their faces as they cackled.

Kate's back was resting on pillows, her left side raised higher to relieve pressure on her broken scapula and her eyes were shining when she turned her face to see the new comers. Her smile got wider and brighter when she saw Castle, and Derek shot the man a knowing smile.

"What is so funny? It better not be about me or my fabulous charisma that has all nurses and doctors at me feet." Castle joked, relishing the amused glare she got from the detective. He got back at her whenever he could ever since she had kicked out Kepner out, teasing her about being jealous of his attractiveness.

"Oh, Rick, you should've seen this!" Kate exclaimed animatedly, not noticing the effect her smooth, warm voice had on the writer when she used his first name. "Ryan was showing us the murder board of a case they're working on and he was going on and on about the importance of being stealthy so that Gates wouldn't see them and, then," The woman guffawed, the memory of whatever happened too vivid in her mind to continue talking.

"Ryan spun the phone around directly into Gates's face and Espo shrieked like a little girl before he hung up."

The three women shared a look before bursting into laughter again.


	6. Chapter 6

I completely sucks. RL has been kicking my ass lately and I haven't been able to write as much as I wanted to...I have more of this written but I wanted to add a few scenes and, well. We're several weeks later and I haven't exactly gone to where I wanted to. Hopefully next update will come faster...

Thanks for everyone who's favorited, followed and reviewed, and by all means, keep commenting/reviewing, it's always really appreciated!

* * *

Rain and cloudy weather was something Richard Castle was used to; it was something he appreciated or loved, even, depending of the circumstances. He had spent countless rainy weekends nesting in the loft with Alexis over the years, when it was just the two of them. They would bake and cook for hours before spending the rest of the day sprawled in the living room, watching movies or playing video games.

Richard Castle loved rain. But the drizzle and the thick fog that had enveloped Seattle and the Seattle Grace Mercy Hospital for the last two days was starting to affect him. And it was getting to his partner as well.

Castle cautiously stretched his legs and glanced down, hoping the movement wouldn't wake up the sleeping detective currently half lying on him.

Kate's features were slack with sleep, free of any indication about being in pain. He had no idea how she had managed to fall asleep with her cracked ribs on him, no matter how soft and fluffy the pillows crushed between them to support her were.

But she was sleeping, and it was all that mattered, especially after the night they had. Kate had been doing well and was recovering nicely until she'd woken up with a high fever the night before.

Meredith had explained that the shock and the stress Kate's body had been under so far had finally caught up with her but, after running tests, that everything was fine.

With nothing else to do but stare at the grey sky outside and listen to the rain spattering against the window, Kate's mood quickly went downhill, along with the writer's.

Castle had been surprised but secretly relieved when Kate had asked Bailey for stronger painkillers a few hours before. He was beyond lenient with her but her own patience was wearing thin and they both knew it, the detective snapping and glaring at everything and everyone that dared approached her.

He knew that she was hurting but refused to admit it, so part of him released a thankful sigh (and a pleasantly surprised chuckle) when the detective had asked him, after her IV was spiked with the dosage of Demerol she had been prescribed but always refused to take, to keep her company. In bed. Then, as he felt her fade and relax against him, Castle did what he liked best.

Watch her.

* * *

He was still watching her two hours later, not caring if his left side was numb from Kate's light weight on him. He could feel her warmth through the pillows and their respective pieces of clothing, and it reassured him. Put his mind at peace.

His fingers tracing random patterns over her side and thigh, a low vibrating sound startled him out of his thought. He glanced sideways, frowning at Kate's cell phone.

Swiftly grabbing it before it woke her up, Castle winced at the Facetime invitation. 'Crap.'

Knowing better than to ignore the call, Castle sighed. "Hey, Lanie."

"What's wrong?" Lanie whispered, having immediately picked up on the man's unusual ushered voice.

"It's fine," He said to the phone, trying his best not to cower under the ME's glare. "Kate had a rough night, but she's sleeping now."

Lanie's worried eyes darkened once Castle explained what had happened to her friend the night before. "Show her to me."

"You know she hates that."

"I want to see her. Now." Lanie hissed, and Castle would've recoiled if he hadn't been lying on a hospital bed with his partner dead weight grounding him.

Castle pursed his lips and changed the camera's setting so it filmed the detective instead.

The ME's smirk wasn't lost on him as he watched her watching their friend. "Looks like you make a good human pillow, writer boy."

"It's writer man, Lanie." Castle huffed. "Writer _Man._"

"If you say so, I don't have any proof of that."

"Shut up, both of you...sleeping."Writer and medical examiner stared at each other, only stopping when the groggy voice broke through the air.

Lanie chuckled and smiled when Castle's hand went to his partner's head, softly stroking her hair. "Sorry, go back to sleep."

"Hurts." The mumbled word was immediately followed by a groan when Kate tried to move. "Wait a sec, Lanie."

Castle dropped the phone on the bed and helped her get into a more comfortable position. "Better?"

Kate nodded and sighed, now resting on her back again. "You want to talk to Lanie?"

"It's okay, Castle. Let her rest and I'll call later, okay?" Lanie chuckled as Kate lazily waved at the phone and closed her eyes again, her head resting comfortably on the man's upper arm.

Castle disconnected the call and turned his attention back on his dozing partner. He fought his own exhaustion for all but ten minutes before sleep claimed him, his hand cradling Kate's protectively.

* * *

A swat on his chest startled him awake an hour later. Blinking blearily as he tried to get his bearings back, Castle winced when a hand rammed against his chest again, this time more forcefully.

Fear twisted his guts when he took a look at Kate next to him. She face was flushed, her eyes glassy and her breathing was shallow. Castle all but launched himself out of bed, fumbling for the call button as his other hand reached for her. "What's wrong?!"

"I feel funny." She breathed out as her eyes fluttered closed, her throat bobbing as she swallowed thickly.

"What do you mean? What feels funny? Kate?" Castle demanded louder, all pretense of calmness gone as he repeatedly pressed the call button. "Kate?!"

Shiny eyes locked on him. Fearful. "My heart feels funny. Rick, I-"

"What's going on?"

Castle sighed in relief as Miranda Bailey walked in, her no nonsense tone already reassuring him. They had been off to a bad start but once the writer had apologized for his rudeness and saw how well respected and competent the petite attending was, their temporary relationship had improved drastically. "She says her heart feels funny."

Bailey calmly pulled her stethoscope from around her neck and lowered Kate's gown a bit, lowering the chest piece over the detective's heart. "Sorry, but it's going to feel a bit cold."

Castle bit his lip to refrain from asking the butt load of questions burning his mind, instead focusing his attention to his partner's tense features. His hand subconsciously went to her head and soothingly stroked her hair as they both waited for the doctor's diagnostic.

"How long have you been feeling like this, Kate?" Bailey asked as she moved the stethoscope around, now listening to the lungs.

Kate licked her lips tiredly, forcing herself to take normal breaths. "That's what woke me up."

Bailey nodded as she went around the bed and began fiddling with the unused heart monitor, efficiently hooking the detective back on the machine. "What you have is called ventricular tachycardia. It meant that your heart's ventricle is beating too fast. I'm going to have Dr. Yang paged so she can monitor you more closely, and we're going to change the medication you're on."

Moving around the bed, Bailey then busied herself checking the other monitors before going back to Kate, an oxygen mask in hands. "Your oxygen levels are a little low so we're going to help you breathe for a bit, alright?"

"Does it have to be the mask?" Kate asked weakly, her voice muffled as Bailey gently placed the apparatus over her nose and mouth and adjusted it so it wasn't too tight.

"You're going to have to stop talking now, unless it is for informing us you're in any distress." The small woman scolded her, earning a weak glare in return.

Both Castle and Kate flinched when the heart monitor came to life, the frantic heartbeat echoing through the room startling them. Neither Castle nor Bailey missed how Kate raised her hand over her heart, as if trying to forcing it back into her chest.

The sound disappeared as Bailey shut it off and she smiled to Kate reassuringly. "I should've known that you'd be the one to keep me from catching a nap tonight."

Kate attempted a weak chuckle at Bailey's teasing. "No offense, but I'd rather be sleeping as well. I hate this."

"This kind of arrhythmia isn't uncommon with patients with a cardiac history. Try not to worry, we'll make sure it all goes back under control as quickly as possible. I'll go have Yang paged, and I'll send a nurse to monitor your heart until Yang gets here, alright? And stop talking!"

Castle's heart tightened at the strain showing on Kate's face as soon as Bailey was out the door. "You okay, love?"

"Don't...call me that."

"Shhh, no talking." Castle quietly reminded her as he pressed his lips on her temple, the kiss lingering so he could breathe her in. "You're going to be fine, you just need to relax, okay?"

Kate took a slow, slightly deeper breath and nodded, all fight in her gone. Castle was marvelled at the intensity he saw in her eyes; despite being clearly exhausted she was quietly gazing up at him, trying to trust his words as she did so many times before.

His own heart skipped a beat when Kate seemed to have come to a solution and shuddered nervously underneath the breathing mask, her hand tugging shyly at his shirt. "Hold me?"

Not having to be asked twice, Castle wrapped himself around his partner, careful of the tubes and wires still trapping her in bed. His hand at her back gently lulled her back to sleep, her grip on him never loosening as she slowly succumbed to the effects of the drugs once more.

He counted every breath she took while his eyes remained fixed on the heart monitor, willing for this new nightmare to be over soon.


End file.
